Net crusher
LeVert hurt in loss to T-Wolves
MINNEAPOLIS — What started out as such a promising season for Caris LeVert may have just ended in devastation.
The electric Nets guard suffered a griz- zly right leg injury Monday night and had to be taken off the court on a stretcher while his teammates looked on in horror.
With under four seconds left in the first half of the Nets’ eventual 120-113 loss to the Timberwolves, LeVert leaped into the air in an attempt to block a fast-break layup.
LeVert came down hard on his right leg and immediately clutched it in pain. He was quickly surrounded by trainers, who called for a stretcher.
Nets players gathered around their teammate looking distraught by what had taken place. The team said LeVert was being taken to a local hospital in Minnesota, where he would undergo a full evaluation.
“He’s the heart and soul of our program, so really tough blow,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said. “I feel for him. He’s had a fantastic start to the season, has obviously made a huge jump.
“I just know Caris. If anybody’s coming back from this, the human, the character, the person, the player, he’ll come back from this.”
The Nets had been on a surprising upswing of late, winning three of their last four, in large part due to LeVert’s emergence as a top offensive threat from the point guard position.
He’s averaging career-highs in minutes (30.8), points (19.0) and rebounds (4.2) and had also proven a penchant for coming through in the clutch. He hit a game-winning running layup over Tim Hardaway Jr. when the Nets took on the young Knicks at the start of this season, and LeVert also nailed a teardrop in the lane to beat the buzzer and the Nuggets last week.
“It breaks your heart, it really does,” said Joe Harris. “We’re all really torn up about it. The amount of work he’s put in up to this point, and his attitude never wavered from the moment he got in here. That’s why it just hurts to see that.”